Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., who refused to comment on rumors that he is gay back in 2003, included the following apology in a statement about his resignation from Congress issued today by his office:

”I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent…”

Foley’s abrupt resignation came after questions about email exchanges between Foley and a male teenage page (an employee who carries messages and runs errands).

Campaign aides had previously acknowledged that the Republican congressman e-mailed the former Capitol page five times, but had said there was nothing inappropriate about the exchange. The page was 16 at the time of the e-mail correspondence.

The page worked for Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., who said Friday that when he learned of the e-mail exchanges 10 to 11 months ago, he called the teen’s parents. Alexander added, ”We also notified the House leadership that there might be a potential problem.”

…snip…

Foley, who represents an area around Palm Beach County, e-mailed the page in August 2005. The page had worked for Alexander and Foley asked him how he was doing after Hurricane Katrina and what he wanted for his birthday. The congressman also asked the boy to send a photo of himself, according to excerpts of the e-mails that were originally released by ABC News.

It doesn’t stop at those emails:

ABC News reported Friday that Foley also engaged in a series of sexually explicit instant messages with current and former teenage male pages. In one message, ABC said, Foley wrote to one page: ”Do I make you a little horny?”

In another message, Foley wrote, ”You in your boxers, too? … Well, strip down and get relaxed.”

Read more at NYTimes.com: Florida Republican Leaves Congress Over E-Mails

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